Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for movies like 28 Years Later:
Train to Busan
Yeon Sang-ho’s Train to Busan is a visual feast as survivors band together on a speeding bullet train. It delivers the right amount of thrills and action set pieces. Although the dramatic elements and character development may seem underbaked, the film rarely faulters and crashes off course.
Read our full review of Train to Busan
V/H/S/Beyond
V/H/S/Beyond is the seventh installment of the cult classic horror anthology franchise V/H/S. After six, you’d think a series would begin to lose steam or run out of ideas, but this one has done the opposite. Since Shudder rebooted the franchise in 2021 with V/H/S/94, the popularity for it has grown more and more. Now, they feel like tentpole releases on the horror streamer’s October slate.
Read our full review of V/H/S/Beyond
In a Violent Nature
In a Violent Nature didn’t blow me away, but it’s creative enough to have me intrigued with where Chris Nash will set his sights next. The movie is made specifically for the hardcore sickos out there that love to see how far a creative can go to make an audience feel queasy.
Read our full review of In a Violent Nature
Handling the Undead
Handling the Undead is Thea Hvistendahl’s debut directorial feature, and while there are aspects of the movie that are fascinating (and even quite profound), the story is drawn out for far too long. The emotional bite is there in doses, but there’s a general feeling of malaise that washes over you and drowns you out.
Read our full review of Handling the Undead
Shivers
Shivers feels more like a film to study than to enjoy. It’s a fascinating, uneasy watch—more of a historical curiosity than an essential horror film. For fans of Cronenberg, it’s worth seeing to track the evolution of his twisted vision. While it introduces many of the themes and obsessions he would refine in later films, Shivers lacks the narrative control and technical finesse that would come with time.
Read our full review of Shivers
Cuckoo
Sometimes, a good ole freak-out film that doesn’t make much sense is exactly what you need. Fortunately, Tilman Singer is responsible for two of them now. 2020’s Luz was an underappreciated shock to the horror system that signaled Singer as an auteur to look out for moving forward, and 2024’s Cuckoo only further cements him as one of the genre’s bravest image makers, even as he’s working out the kinks in his storytelling repertoire.
Read our full review of Cuckoo
Hell Hole
There might be a fun creature feature somewhere in Hell Hole, but the newest Shudder release doesn’t strike a good balance in tone and narrative. I don’t want to keep trashing on a streaming service that offers many independent filmmakers an outlet to produce their projects, but Shudder is starting to deviate away from a must-have service for fans of the genre.
Read our full review of Hell Hole
Spaceman
Spaceman continues the long collaboration between Adam Sandler and Netflix. It’s not my favorite of his movies with the studio, but it seems like Sandler is able to find a pocket within mid-range streaming films that I desperately wish a few more actors or directors would find. Paul Dano co-stars by voicing a furry, arachnid-like extraterrestrial.
Read our full review of Spaceman
65
Despite Adam Driver‘s attempt to deliver cinema’s next best science fiction thriller movie, 65 doesn’t successfully convey much that feels new or enticing. Lackluster pacing and storytelling make up a generally bland film stripped of any exciting elements.
The Vast of Night
Simple but precise, The Vast of Night proves that low budgets and COVID times aren’t real excuses for making lackluster movies. What is essentially three to four long sequences transforms into a story that continues to build and build the stakes until it’s explosive finale. It is an invigorating debut film from Andrew Patterson.